The University of Idaho and Idaho State University have creative and productive biomedical research faculty with strong records of achievement and proven competitiveness for major funding. This community of scientists also recognize that successful research program growth and enhanced competitiveness demands that they continually seek and integrate advanced biotechnologies into existing efforts. In this regard, biomedical investigators at both the University of Idaho and Idaho State University have identified an immediate and long term need for state-of-the-art instrumentation and computing capabilities in molecular biology and cell biology. Therefore, a specific objective of this IDeA proposal is to create at both the University of Idaho and Idaho State University a "core" facility for molecular and cell biology experimentation to provide investigators at these institutions with the advanced technological resources and opportunity for strong research program development in those areas. This will benefit more investigators and have a longer-ranging impact than the funding of a few individual research projects. Young investigators will use the facility at their institution to more effectively establish and sustain competitive research programs, and senior investigators will have opportunities for quickly and successfully undertaking new research initiatives and to supplement existing efforts with creative molecular approaches. Each of the two institutions have targeted specific instrumentation and computing needs and designed the function of their facility appropriately. Other objectives of this IDeA proposal are to promote faculty development and funding competitiveness through a rigorous program of continual and multi-level evaluation. Major effort will focus on providing investigators who use the molecular core facilities with (a) both formal and informal opportunities to share and assess research aims and data analysis with colleagues, creating an interactive community of university investigators with common general interests and experience and (b) means for the direct involvement of institutional administration in creating sustained biomedical research environments at both Idaho universities. The University of Idaho and Idaho State University will make tangible, long-term commitments to biomedical research development in keeping with the objectives of this IDeA proposal by allocating significant space, financial, and personnel resources. The creation of molecular biology and cell biology core facilities, the implementation of multi-level programs of research evaluation, and the solid commitment of both universities to significantly enhancing their biomedical research environment will all serve to provide unprecedented and vital opportunities for promoting the development of existing quality biomedical research faculty at the University of Idaho and Idaho State University.